James Upton
James Upton is a male human NPC in the Om campaign. Summary Commodore James Upton is the commander of the Gildornian Naval forces in New Gildorn. He welcomed the Royal Explorers to Elira and commanded the Gildornian forces in the Battle of Socortia. Background James Upton is a Gildornian Naval officer holding the rank of Commodore. He is in command of the naval forces in New Gildorn and the commanding officer of the Thunderer. Welcoming the Royal Explorers In 465 Upton ordered his patrols to keep an eye out for the Morning Star as it was carrying the Royal Explorers and was overdue. On the 28th of the Father, 465, they arrived on the Sea Bitch along with the some of the crew and passengers of the also overdue Derry Boy. Upton met them off the coast and received their report. The Royal Explorers reported that the Derry Boy was sunk and the Morning Star was captured by pirates of the Brotherhood of the Coast. The Royal Explorers stated that the Umani were split in a civil war between Queen Aziza and her cousin Akembe who was backed by the Brotherhood of the Coast. Worse, the Brotherhood was on the cusp of signing an alliance with Orlesea. The Royal Explorers freed the crews of the captured ships, helped Aziza fight her enemies and stole the pirates best ship while burning the rest in port (including the Morning Star) and sailed to New Gildorn. Upon receiving the report Upton had one of his lieutenants take command of the Sea Bitch and guided it to port. The Battle of Socortia In light of the report from the Royal Explorers, Duke Agrippa named Jubal, an Umani who sailed with the Explorers, as Gildorn's ambassador to Socortia. Agrippa ordered Upton to lead a squadron to Socortia, get Jubal to Queen Aziza to procure an alliance with Gildorn, and secure the island. Upton put together a naval squadron of 2 Ships of the Line (Thunderer and Dreadnaught), 4 Frigates (Staunch, Fortune, Dragon, and Sea Bitch) and 1 Brig (Tiger) to sail to Socortia. Upton commanded the mission from the Thunderer and arrived to find Socortia occupied by an Orlesean squadron. The Orlesean squadron had three ships of the line (La Courageuse, Lion and Imperial), six frigates (Formidable, Magicienne, Nymphe, Gloire, La Flèche, and Nemesis) and three corvettes (Vigilance, Lapin, and Renard). Upton ordered the Tiger to sneak through the Orlesean lines to Socortia and deliver Jubal, Leandra and Mordechai the Mighty along with a squad of marines to travel to Zaros, Queen Aziza’s capital, and secure a treaty with her. This mission was a success and in short order the party returned with a signed treaty and a request to help push the pirates and Orleseans from the island. Upton then sailed to Darsah, the port town and base of the Brotherhood of the Coast, catching much of the Orlesean fleet in harbor. Upton sent a messenger to inform the Orleseans that Socortia’s rightful ruler was an ally of Gildorn and demanded that the Orleseans and pirates evacuate immediately. The offer was met with a fireball spell from Lord Balamer “the Blue” aboard La Flèche and the battle was joined. The battle was a decisive victory for the Gildornians. Upton's fleet only suffered the loss of one frigate (the Fortune) and sank an Orlesean ship of the line (the Lion), a frigate (the Nymphe), and one corvette (the Vigilance). The Gildornians also captured a ship of the line (the Imperial), and two frigates (the Magicienne, and the Formidable). The Orlesans managed to escape with only one ship of the line (the Courageuse), two corvettes (the Renaed and the Laupin) and three frigates (the Gloire, La Flèche, and the Nemesis) as well as a repaired pirate ship (Sea Horse). Upton landed troops and, aided by Queen Aziza's Umani, they began routing out Orlseans and pirates hiding out in the jungle. One of the heroes of the land fighting turned out to be Mordechai the Mighty for his efforts both before the battle and for his exploits on this front. After the battle Ambassador Jubal negotiated unrestricted access to Darsah and the rights to erect a fort and establish an embassy. The Dreadnaught, the Sea Bitch and the Staunch escorted the prize ships back to Waymere to bring word of the victory and to gather workers and soldiers to garrison and fortify Socortia. Category:Om Category:Characters Category:NPCs